


Protect the Innocent

by IsisKitsune



Series: Twilight is for Sookers [49]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Morbius: The Living Vampire
Genre: Abusive Parents, Dark Past, Gen, Hypnotism, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, child protective services gets called to the ER, mandatory reporter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-03-09 01:23:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18906652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IsisKitsune/pseuds/IsisKitsune
Summary: No matter how much you want to get attached, you can't-The care of the patient comes first, and the first thing you do in the case of suspected abuse is separate the patient from the suspected abuser





	Protect the Innocent

Michael took one look at the kid holder her arm and red flags were flying. Wide eyed, watchful, eye kept flickering to the parent with her and most importantly, a spiral break in the arm she was holding. He could hear it from here with her soft whimpers. He just put on his most professional smile as he knelt down, asking her some basic questions, seeing if the parent witnessed it, she 'didn't'. The little girl 'fell down the stairs', her heart pounding away so hard he could literally map the old damage in her tiny body. She got to the point she was whining her arm hurt, “Deep breath, stay calm.” Oh that hazy look as she winced but smiled and nodded as the command took. He shot a look to the nearby nurse, she was watching as well. “We'll get her an x-ray and get her right as rain. Next time, watch to make sure nothing's on the stair okay, kiddo?”

The nurse automatically crouched down, introducing herself and letting everyone know what they were going to do, smiling at the worried child as she stood up to take her to get the x-ray. Michael dropped the smile, texting Claire to warn about the investigation about to happen. “Is she alright going alone?”

He nodded, “We have female nurses go with young female patients and male with male, in case something happened that they didn't want to mention to the opposite gender. It's common, especially with young children.”

“Okay.”

“I can take you back if you'd like? But I suggest you let anyone you have waiting for you at home know it's going to be some time before you can get back. From eyeing it I'd say she needs a cast.”

“Great,” the woman was more worried about the inconvenience. “You got coffee back here?”

“Yeah, the desk has some, I'm sure.”

“Thanks.”

“Oh, hey, sorry, I just got on shift,” the woman rolled her eyes as she turned to look at him, “How did you say it happened?”

Michael smirked as her hands started going slack, eyes hazing, “She, left her toys out again. I told her to clean them up. She didn't listen.”

“And?”

“I grabbed her out of bed, she screamed and cried, I told her to put away her toys before she goes to bed.”

“And why are you here?”

“She wouldn't shut up about her arm hurting.”

“When did you grab her out of bed?”

“Yesterday.”

Michael glared as the station worker grabbed the phone, smirking when another nurse was holding up a phone, recording. “So, what's the punishment for not picking up her toys?”

“She doesn't go to bed until they're picked up.”

“What other punishments are there?”

“No dinner until homework's finished, no breakfast if she doesn't get ready by 7.”

“Does she talk back?”

“All the time. Little bitch can't keep her mouth shut.”

“What's the punishment for talking back?”

“Whatever I feel like,” Michael balled up his fist at the smirk, he had to step away, not trusting himself to not do something stupid. Instead he glared as he watched the woman blink a few times as the haze faded. Her face instantly showed her panic.

“What type of 'back talk' does she do?”

He got stunned looks from the woman, “Kids do that sometimes, whine, complain, beg even-”

“What do you consider back talk?” He didn't even bother trying to catch her eyes, she already dug her grave. “And how many of that poor girl's injuries went untreated?”

Michael didn't need to be a psychic to know the woman was about to bolt, honest truth it'd probably look better for getting the child put in proper parental custody if she did, “What untreated injuries? Check her records, this is the first time she's been here.”

“Yes, probably at least, but the x-rays will tell her story. Even young bones show healing scars.” Michael started listing the old fractured he's noticed from the whimpering, even listing how fresh some of them were. The woman's eyes got wider and wider before he smiled when Claire came around the corner followed by officers. His smile got her attention real quick. “I suggest you tell the truth,” was his only piece of advise. He had a firm grip on her arm when she turned as if to run, “And I suggest you not fight either.”

Claire was already meeting the CPS worker, whispering to him as they walked away once the woman was in custody, Michael rushed after them, “Her arm.”

“We've got it set properly, there won't cause permanent damage,” Claire recited, then realized who she spoke to, “What about it?”

“Her other arm, she's got an old break.”

“Shit,” Claire grumbled, “Talk with the doctor, I've got to get another set of x-rays for the case.”

“Did the child tell you the truth?”

“Yes, she told us everything, the mother had a history with us prior to this child. The moment her name was brought up we got flagged, thank you for having your staff call us.”

“They're good at their job, caught the flags while I was talking to her, I'm just glad I didn't need to have eyes off her to get them to call.” Michael saw the look and patted his shoulder, “Sometimes, there are just bad people, and it takes some time for good people to be able to help.”

“Still, never understood how anyone could hurt a child.”

“You must be new.” Michael shook his head, “Just, I'd hate to say it like this but, it's a job. You have to be careful on how attached you get. You will kill yourself slowly and painfully if you let it drag you down.” Michael shrugged at the look, “This is the 3rd time this week we've had to call you on my shift alone. If I let each of these eat me up I'd be long dead by now. Get in, do your job, smile knowing you helped or are helping however you can and move on to the next.” He couldn't help but shrug, “I would like to talk to her, so she knows that medical professionals aren't responsible for getting 'mom' in trouble... And let her know she was brave and helpful telling the truth. Hopefully, if anything happens in the future similar, she won't be afraid to speak up.”

He knocked on the door before he smiled when he entered the private room to see Claire chatting and smiling with the little girl. “Hello again.”

“Hi,” she smiled, “My arm still hurts, but it's not as bad as last time.”

“Where does it hurt?”

“We haven't given her any pain meds,” Claire whispered in the background as he crouched down to take a look when she tapped the spot where her radius was broken.

“Ah, sounds like it's still settling, it'll ache for a bit, it shouldn't be too bad.”

“Settling?”

“Yeah, because the bone, when it breaks, it isn't like what you see when you look at a cut of steak, it has these little edges and for awhile those edges will shift just a little bit until they heal back together so yeah that's a normal 'I'm healing' ache. But, I think we can get you something for it, for when it gets really annoying.”

“Can I have some? I don't think I can sleep with it aching.”

“We'll get you some. Do you know anything you can't have?”

“Can't have?”

“Allergies, like some people can't be around dogs 'cause it makes them sneezy and wheezy.”

“Um, mommy gave me something once, made my head all floaty and weird, does that count?”

“Do you know what it was called?”

“Um, it was one of mommy's pills.”

Michael looked at the CPS worker, “Am I allowed to offer some names and see what she responds to or should I let it go?”

“Technically if she remembers, it's better but kids don't always recall what they've been told so a reminder helps.”

“Um, Codeine, Hydrocodone-”

He nodded in understanding when the poor girl just rubbed at her eye and shrugged, “I can't remember, it's mommy's medicine.”

“How long ago did she give it to you?”

“After I cleaned up my toys, couldn't sleep, it hurt too much.”

“Do you think you can use the bathroom before we get you ready to head out?”

She looked worried, “Probably?”

“Don't worry it's just a test, you go, it gets gathered in a little... well it looks like a training potty, but it's to gather what we need for tests and then all is well.”

“Okay, yeah I can go.” Claire smiled at her as she helped her down and made sure she was okay to get everything she needed unfastened or fastened with her new cast before setting up the toilet for the sample. “Thank you, um, can I wash my hands after?”

“Just be really careful with the cast, try to keep it dry.”

“Um, can I put something on it?”

“Yeah, give me one second,” Claire was all smiles as she snagged a latex-free glove, history unknown, and helped her put it over the cast. “There you go, and when you're all finished, just toss the glove in the trash.”

“Thank you.”

Claire was glaring as she gathered the sample once everything was done, cleaning up before getting the paperwork ready for the worker. “We'll need some time to process the report.”

“I know,” Michael mumbled, glaring toward the wall he knew the CPS worker and the girl was talking behind. “My bet's on Oxy.”

“I'm siding with you.” Claire blinked at his distant staring, “Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah, just... yeah.”

“Ever get someone to talk to about... everything?”

“Nope.”

“Kid, you really need to talk before it just, overflows.”

“Confession.”

“Fuck, Matt drag you into that?”

“Yeah, honestly, it helps, sort of.”

“Kid, I'd offer-”

“You're head of my ER nursing staff... No offense but I like having you as a friend and mentor in medicine. You're already helping in your own way, you don't need to offer more.”

“It's what friends do,” Claire shrugged, “But seriously, get someone to talk to.”

“I have to be, very careful.”

“It's been long enough, no one's gonna remember.”

“Statue for murder never runs out.”

Claire took a deep breath, “Then find someone that can keep quiet. You're no longer a danger and haven't been so long you're head of an ER before the age of 30 I might add.”

Michael shook his head, “I fucked up.”

Claire laughed as she snapped her gloves off and smacked his shoulder, “So did I, but I'm glad you're in charge of ours.”

“I'll mention it to Tony.”

“No 'mention' find someone you can full on vent to. Someone, anyone, at this point.”

Michael pushed off the table he'd been sitting on and headed to finish the paperwork on this. “Same shit different shift.”

 

 


End file.
